General

Second in a Series on Estate Planning Myths. A financial power of attorney (“POA”) can ensure that if you become incompetent, you will not need a court-appointed guardian. Instead you can name the person to act on your behalf with…

First in a Series on Estate Planning Myths As an estate planner I like the moment when I see a client’s worried expression shift to relief. Almost every client tells me something he or she is convinced is true about…

I once read that Robert Lewis Stevenson gave his birthday to his friend, Annie. (You might expect this from the author of Treasure Island.) It was said that Annie was born on December 25th and constantly complained about this inconvenience.…

People get inspired to sign a will when a major life event occurs. Sometimes it’s because they became a parent or they bought a house or a close friend or family member died and they handled a messy estate. Once…

People own land. This concept is as old as dirt. Still, I sometimes daydream about how land was transferred in the days before government agencies regulated out all of the chaos and fun. I envision a scenario where a person…

Choosing who will act for you financially under a power of attorney if you become incompetent is difficult. This person, known as the attorney-in-fact, has the keys to your kingdom. For example, they can pay your bills, make investment decisions,…

I have heard people comment that they do not need to plan their estate because they do not have enough money. My response to them is, “If you have a car, you have an estate.” I say this good-naturedly and…

My fourteen-year old son recently caused me to choke on my coffee when he mentioned that he would be able to vote in the next presidential election. It is a form of denial that maybe all parents have about the…

I think we can all agree that memory is an easily influenced contraption. Too often we rely on what we know about ourselves and our current surroundings in concluding what our past decisions may have been. Or, over time, the…

Everyone has an estate and every estate has value, but this value is not often monetary. It is all too easy to dismiss estate planning as something that is not needed until we have amassed a certain amount of wealth.…

Most of us live two lives: our daily lives and our cyber lives. We awake, check our phone, make our coffee, turn on the computer, login to email and Facebook, check financial accounts (trying not to spew coffee at the…

On several occasions when I have met with unmarried couples, they have interrupted the initial pleasantries, taken a deep breath, looked at me intently and asked: “Couldn’t we skip all this planning and just get married?” Immediately, visions of horse-drawn…

As an estate planner I think about death probably more than most people. I have considered death as a period to the final sentence in the final paragraph that is life. Of late it seems to me to be like…

I have not written about estate taxes in this column over the last year because I, like all estate planners, was nonplussed as to what to say. Through almost all of 2010 we were in disbelief that no estates were…

Four out of five clients ask me whether they need a living trust. They ask me earnestly and with fear. They have seen ads. Their broker has told them they need one. Their friends tout them as the answer to…

I could probably travel around the world on the gas I’ve used up turning around to return home to make sure I turned off the iron or the oven or lowered the garage door. But such return trips are necessary…

I am hoping for a turbulence-free journey to my final destination: to die quietly in my sleep in my own bed after a good day involving family and friends with no signs of dementia and a final slice of chocolate…

You may recall the words of Gerald O’Hara (Scarlett’s daddy): “Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.” Would Gerald like your estate…

I tell my clients that your will is your last act of parenting so make it a loving act. This approach shifts your perspective. Most of us think of wills as being about property distribution. They are, of course, but…

The first question I ask my clients when we are discussing their wills is what their wishes are for their remains. I am often greeted with a blank look. This topic is not one that tends to come up frequently…

The stories of estate beneficiaries fighting about money are a bit exaggerated. Usually it is clear how to distribute the money, the stocks, and the real property through the deceased’s will, trust or the North Carolina statutes that control if…